Apple's New iMacs: Should You Upgrade?

10 Juin 2017

Parade Technologies (4966.TW) looks like the big victor from Apple's launch of the 10.5 inch iPad Pro and refreshed 12.9 inch iPad Pro. Indeed, Apple makes a point to highlight in its marketing materials for the new iPad Pro models that they are "more powerful than most PC laptops".

The high-end model has the new Touch Bar, which replaces the physical function keys with a touchscreen that displays digital keys and settings.

While Apple remains tight-lipped regarding its future overarching upgrade strategy involving its MacBook, MacBook Pro and iMac lineup, if WWDC 2017 is any indication of what we can expect in the future, it appears Mac hardware updates are set to drop at a significantly faster clip.

There are two different screen sizes customers can choose from - the 10.5 inch iPad Pro (retails from £619) and the 12.inch version (retails from £769). This latter feature will be particularly welcome, as Apple devices are often criticized for having sub-power battery lifecycles.

Nonetheless, the fact that the two new tablets have larger screens than their predecessor suggests that they do deliver a slightly better visual experience.

When Apple debuted its iPad Pro, one of the major criticisms of the device was that there was nowhere to store the accompanying Pencil stylus.

The smaller of the new iPad Pro models measures 250.6 x 174.1 x 6.1mm, which compares rather well with the 240 x 169.5 x 6.1 mm of the 9.7-inch version.

You're still stuck with the same not-great 480p webcam, and there's just that single USB-C port for all your power and connectivity needs, which will be a deal-breaker for many.

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The truth is there's no reason why Google should jump in and release a new Android productivity tablet just because Apple is coming out with one. The borders have been reduced by 40%, and the screen's refresh rate is now faster.

According to Apple, the A10X includes 12 graphics cores.

The iPad Pro 2 will be instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with the Pro range.

On the back of the tablet there is a 12MP snapper with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), a TrueTone flash, f/1.8 aperture and 4K video capture.

Last time around, the 21.5-inch 4K iMac ($1,499) we tested included a fifth-generation Core i5 processor, Intel Iris Pro 6200 graphics, and 8GB of memory.

Overall, Apple's update to the MacBook line indicate that the company is committed updating its hardware more frequently - the same can be said about its long overdue internal update to the iMac.

A cynical view would be that this was to justify a high price tag but, after listening to the speaker in action, the comparison seems justified.